Saturday, August 11, 2007

Whilst the Global Warning fetishists keep telling us Polar Bears will die off , the diversity of natural life is constantly showing not only how little we know, but how much there is yet to find.

The US based Wildlife Conservation Society(WCS) sent an expedition Jan - March this year, to a remote corner of the eastern Democratic republic of Congo into the relatively “uncharted” territory of Misotshi-Kabogo Forest (formerly Mt. Kabobo) and nearby Marunga Massif, which hasn't been visited by scientists since 1960 due to civil unrest.

Laurent Kabila, father (?) of the current president, set up a base of operations in the Misotshi-Kabogo forests in his attempt to overthrow the regime of Joseph Mobutu, former president of the country (then called Zaire). His son Joseph and current President was trained National Defense University, in Beijing on his return in 2000, he was appointed Army Chief of Staff, a position he held until his father the President's assassination in January 2001, the circumstances of which are very unclear - it appears a long standing bodyguard did it - but English speaking Joseph has US support ... who knows ... there are many who want to rape the country's mineral riches.

It would be foolish to even begin to think that the expedition involved a degree of covert reconaissance - although a little military help with the logistics would probably have been welcome. Other sponsors included the Field Museum in Chicago, the National Centre of Research and Science in Lwiro, and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) The John D. And Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation(US$6Bn funds YS$225 MN grants p.a John D was 3rd richest man in US when he died in 1978 ) gave US$455,000 for 2 year 02/03 program "Conserving and Learning about Biodiversity in Democratic Republic of Congo" A Collaborative Program in Training and Education between Institut Congolais pour la Conservacion de la Nature (ICCN), Centre de Recherche en Sciences Naturelles (CRSN-Lwiro) and The Field Museum (Chicago).

Limited to water borne transport the expedition covered over 1,000 square kilometers Lake Tanganyika to 2,725 meters in the mountains. Essentially looking for the larger mammals a high level of biodiversity in the gallery forests and woodlands, including chimpanzees, bongos, buffalo, elephants, leopards, and several types of monkeys, including a subspecies of colobus only found there. As a result of poaching, however, most of the large-bodied mammals were few in number.Six new species animal species were uncovered : a bat, a rodent, two shrews, and two frogs. (Pic of a new Tree frog of the Genus Hyperolius which show major variations in coloration and often between the sexes) and the botanists reckon that 10% of the plant species collected have not been previously named or identified.

“If we can find six new species in such a short period it makes you wonder what else is out there,” said researcher Dr. Andrew Plumptre, director of the WCS Albertine Rift Programwhich is one of the most important regions for conservation in Africa. It contains more vertebrate species than any other region on the continent and contains more endemic species of vertebrate than any other region on mainland Africa.

Human impacts on the region, isolated from the main Congo Forest and there has only been low level gold exploitation “There is a real need to protect this forest and carry out more research in the area.” said WCS researcher Deo Kujirakwinja,

As few people live in the Misotshi-Kabogo region, conservationists believe it should be relatively easy to create a park there, while supporting the livelihoods of local communities.

Boris Berezovsky Бори́с Абра́мович Березо́вский the Jewish Russian dissident travels now as Platon Elenin and shares not only his birthdate with Lord Patel but a fondness for fastcars, glamorous and rich women, and massive, well guarded country estates.

Lord Patel was not however issued with an arrest warrant in the Basmanny District Court in Moscow on Monday on charges that he allegedly embezzled an additional $13 million in credit funds from SBS - Agro Bank which he then owned, to purchase a magnificent Mediteranean villa in southern France...which the Court wants to take off him.

This is the most recent of 11 probes into President Putin's friend who has repeatedly sent extradition requests for Boris / Platon to defend charges of embezzlement and money laundering which commenced in 1999, when he was charged with embezzling from State Airline Aeroflot of over 214 million rubles ($8.3 million) from the national air carrier and laundering more than 16 million roubles ($620,000).

This is the man who was invited by his friend Ronnie Lauderto help open the new Estee Lauder Moscow store - Ronnie, the man who sat on the New York Port Authority which sold the WTC to his friend Larry Silverstein whose son in law sits on the Federal Reserve Board and shares Boris's interest in Eastern European TV stations by holding CETV 50/50 with Sir Ronnie Cohen chairman of Apax Partners , and good buddy of Gordon Brown. (UK Prime Minister currently)

Starting as a promising mathematician , he then becoming a used-car salesman importing Mercedes cars into Russia in the 1990s (many it is said stolen from the streets of Stuttgart) , and eventually setting himself up as a middleman distributing cars made by Russia's Avtovaz which he then proceeded to loot. "His base is Logovaz, Russia's largest car dealership, but this is only the most visible tip of a golden iceberg. " explained Forbes Magazinein a notorious article in December 1996.

In the mid-1990s, he was one of Russia's leading "oligarchs" who gained control stole of the country's industrial crown jewels at knock-down prices, in rigged privatisations helped by access to Boris Yeltsin and his "family".

As well as taking ownership of stealing the Sibneft oil company, he became the main shareholder in the country's main television channel, ORT (where the now walk by irradiated and dead Alexander Litvinenko was appointed Head of Security by him) , which he turned into a propaganda vehicle for Boris Yeltsin in the run-up to the 1996 presidential election.

It was in 1996 that he became, through "very" close friendship with Boris Yeltsin's glamorous youngest daughter TatyanaDyachenko (now 47) he was made deputy secretary of Russia's security council. (She was also "very" friendly with Yeltin's Chief of Staff n the hard nosed Anatoli Chubais - who has survived under Putin and done very well for himself) .Through him Putin entered " the family" , and he funded the party that formed Mr Putin's parliamentary base. The new President sensing oposition then moved to regain control of the ORT television station, and to curb the political ambitions of Russia's oligarchs.

(Leonid Dyachenko , Tatayana's pliant husband is described as an oil trader and it was revealed held account at the Bank of New York which US$7Bn was allegedly illegally transferred to accounts in the sunny Cayman Islands and no doubt beyond. Boris / Platon has most of his loot stashed in the Cayman Islands it said - prpbably incorrectly and with malice by his many enemies - but it was a CI trust that owned Mr Litvinenko's ***(and the glamorous but slightly irradiated Mrs Litvinenko) modest US$£ Mn. pied a terre in Muswell Hill.)

Boris / Platon moved at the end of 2001 to escape, (not wishing to enjoy the fate of Mr Khodorkovsky) along with a few (well several million) sack loads of money which he moved to Israel (where he has citizenship by right as a Jew and where his separated wife and 2 children find their home) and London. It is from London where he managed to obtain "citizenship" (as of right as a very rich man and friend of Tony Blair ex prime Minister and now Israel's Roving Ambassador in the Middle East) that he was alleged to have masterminded the brutal murder of campaigning journalist Anna Politkovskaya, in order to discredit Mr Putin - an allegation that naturally he denies.

Forbes Magazine described Boris / Platon as the "Godfather of the Kremlin" and he took them to court (in England) claiming their allegations were false, they settled out of court. Forbes issue on 30th December 1996 Forbes described the two men (BB and Mr. Nikolai Glouchkov MD of Aeroflot) as "criminals on an outrageous scale" and also said , "Berezovsky stands tall as one of the most powerful men in Russia. Behind him lies a trail of corpses, uncollectible debts and competitors terrified for their lives."

Among the other Russian dissidents he is often associated with is the former actor (remember the Chechen's took over the Moscow Theatre in 2002) , Minister of Culture and latterly Chechen warlord, Ahmed Zakayev. Paradoxically he fled Denmark after the Russians asked for his extradition and at heathrow Airport was arrested in December 2002 on a Russian request.Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov slammed London for allowing Zakayev to be freed on bail after a brief arrest, and alleged the Chechen was a terrorist comparable to suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden. Zakayev, 43, had last been a top aide to Chechen separatist leader Aslan Maskhadov. He remains - unextradited but his "citizenship" is unclear.

"Today we have filed an appeal against the arrest warrant for Berezovsky on charges of alleged misappropriation of $13 million from SBS-Agro Bank," Boris / Platon's court appointed lawyer Andrei Borovkov said on Friday.

The court said that if left at large, Berezovsky could continue his criminal activities, harass witnesses or conceal evidence.

Boris / Platon has refused to send any of his own defense lawyers to his ongoing trial-in-absentia in Moscow, which he has branded "a farce." Associated Press managed to track Boris / Platon down in Israel this week and he said in a telephone conversation that "it doesn't matter how many warrants are issued; it's impossible to arrest someone twice" and denied that he has had any involvement in the operations of SBS-Agro. (Boris Platon is in Israel as the Times reported on July 18th 'Security services ‘foil plot to kill Berezovsky at the London Hilton’ and suggested he scoot there for his safety... and all we hear about is these bloody asylum seekers saying we do nothing for them. "Mr Berezovsky said last night he was confident he was safe in Britain under the protection of the police." .. so that's alright then.

In an interview with a Russian radio station in January, Berezovsky labeled Putin's regime as 'anti-constitutional' and having 'lost all legitimacy', advocating the forceful removal of Putin from office. Interviewed in the UK he has repeatedly called for Putin's overthrow.

There are many amongst us who wonder why 3 bankers who are alleged to have committed a fraud in the UK can be express extradited to the US. The same Government cannot extradite a man (not forgetting the terrorist Ahmed Zakayev as well ) to his native country who has looted the public coffers, laundered the proceeds and continues to plot and publicise the violent overthrow of a legally elected Government, and it is claimed has been responsible for organising murders within Russia, still maintains his freedom as a British "Citizen"

***The Polish newspaper "Rzeczpospolita" claimed in July 2005 that Ayman-al-Zawahiri, the second most wanted member of al-Qaeda after Osama bin Laden, received terrorist training in 1998 at an FSB camp in Dagestan and later became Osama bin Laden’s deputy, they quoted Litvinenko - a story repeated by AP and Pakistani newspapers. Litvinenko said he ," was working in that section at the time and I can confirm the fact Zawahiri was not the only link between the FSB and Al-Qa'ida", yet no-one sees the hands of the US in his baloneyium related death / murder .. if it was that that killed him and Linvinenko was telling the Polish journalist the Truth.

PIC ? That is My good friend (and Boris / Platon's ) flame haired temptress, Romana Tomasová , who calls herself the Director of Corporate Communications at CETV these days ( the little minx) collecting from Richard Parsons, Chairman & CEO of Time Warner Inc., on behalf of Ronnie Lauder the 2006 International Emmy Directorate Award to CETV and Ronnie for "pioneering the development of independent television broadcasting in Central and Eastern Europe " at the glitzy 34th International Emmy Awards in New York.CETV HQ is of course in the heart of Mayfair, London and curiously, is domiciled in the Cayman Islands.

We don't get to read the North Denver Newsoften - evidently not often enough, because it brings us some astounding (if True!) news. James Bentley in the course of his journalistic enquiries bumped into 24 stone Thomas Martel of Bonnie Brae residential district in Denver , near the U of D and well equipped with liquor stores. James describes Thomas as a "big guy".

An early adopter, Thomas, despite his bulk enjoyed using, successively, a Treo, a Blackberry, and now he has an iPhone (money is definitely no concern to Thomas) . " I had a hard time hitting the right buttons, and I always lost those little styluses," He explained to James.

He had a big thumbs. He needed a smaller ones. So he called on cosmetic surgeon Dr. Robert Fox Spars who is now anxious to explain his technique of thumb "whittling"

The procedure (cover your eyes here if squeamish) involved making a small incision into both thumbs and shaving down the bones, followed by careful muscular alteration and modification of the fingernails.

Tomas's new thumbs are slim, effeminate but make using his new technological toys a treat , he says he can still lift "pretty much anything I could lift before the surgery". The only drawback is opening Spaghetti sauce bottles - which if he had laid off the spaghetti he might have....

"We're turning plastic surgery from something that people use in service of vanity, to a real tool for improving workplace efficiency." says Dr. Robert Fox Spars ... of whom there is no trace in the Denver telephone Directory .. nor any trace of him anywhere else... and James Bentley doesn't return calls and it's a slow news time in Denver the ski capital of the US.... and the ghost of Hunter Thompson lingers on ...

Tonight is National Moth Nightwhich was started in 1999 in an attempt ot encourage members of the public to record moths they have seen.

There is a website for more information and a splendid page for identifying the more commonly seen moths here. There are some 2,000 species in the UK and they are important pollinators, especially in residential gardens.

Many entomologists will be collecting in Conservative Party Headquarters where the New Policy cupboard will be opened by David Cameron.

Friday, August 10, 2007

Anthony (Tony) Wilson had a massive ego, a little learning and prodigous energy. He undoubtedly had an enormous effect on some aspects of what passes for popular culture in Madchester.

He was an insufferable child who never grew up and was, remarkably, allowed extensive freedom - for which he can thank the very liberal minded Granada management under the Bernstein family who loved his undoubted in dustrial sized chutzpah and throwing grit into the artworks from time to time - "You don't sharpen an axe without making sparks "etc., and other tiresome pieces of Jewish schmaltz.

He was no cultural colossus, and beyond the very narrow world of clubland was disregarded , not least because he was such a rude cunt. There will however be massive media coverage and encomiums from the semi literate pop literati whose few brains have not been too addled by drink or drugs who will allowed by the confused controllers of TV to wallow self indulgently in a dismal past, trying desperately to recall the parties, the booze and the birds.

BBC2 Newsnight have just shown a clip - which will be shown again and again of the notorious incident on a late night Granada TV show in 1990 when Kendo Nagasaki the masked "Wrestler" - "brutal, silent and with a hint of Samurai savagery " as the playbills said - who was, in a plot contrived by Wilson , who was presenting the show , unmasked live on TV by Big Daddy.

The absurd, masked, Nagasaki , claiming to be the resurrection of a Samurai , was actually a 6 foot 2 inch 18 stone labourer from Stoke called Peter Thornley. Unmasked publicly, on cue , he went apeshit, as required and ended up throwing the attending make up artist, slim, gorgeous, talented, luscious, 8 stone Lois Richardson into a fire extinguisher on the studio wall.

Lois was always a first choice of Sir Laurence Olivier (and Lord Patel) and did all the make up on "Jewel in the Crown" on location in India which presented massive challenges due to heat, humidity and continuity. As a result of this stupid and authorised stunt she was lucky to survive, had her back and many bones broken, was in hospital for nearly a year and to this day still has major problems walking. It ended her career.

Granada tried to blame Nagasaki but the broadcasting union Bectu (to their eternal credit) took up the case and after seven years , the judge accepted that Nagasaki had done as instructed and Granada shelled out £375.000.

Tony Wilson never lifted a finger to help her case and persisted in the lie that the whole thing was not a set up.

Nagasaki was famously portrayed by Peter Blake who had some infantile idea about being Nagasaki.

Daily Telegraph report... "The British have basically been defeated in the south," the intelligence official told the Washington Post.

The newspaper quoted from one think tank report that said the legacy of British rule in Basra was: "the systematic misuse of official institutions, political assassinations, tribal vendettas, neighbourhood vigilantism and enforcement of social mores, together with the rise of criminal mafias."

This has absolutely , totally, completely, nothing to do with the activities of these two guys and their rescue General (Hero 2 face) Jackson of Basra "Let me make it clear that it was important to retrieve those two soldiers. The British Army looks after its own.” (Times, 12 Oct 2005)

"The British Army looks after its own" , demolishing a jail, releasing prisoners, and killing Police in the process. .. and er .. repeating the process again earlier this year but they took prisoners then ..... about whom we have heard nothing since.

The Timeshas a report today "Fresh outbreak of virus suspected as scientists point to sabotage as cause" which contains noteworthy comment on 2 matters relating to the origin of the FMV outbreak.

1. Current IAH Director Dr. Martin Shirley said that measures to ensure viruses did not enter the water system from his organisation were working properly. A back-up effluent treatment system that further treats water leaving the IAH and Merial had no reported problems. Concluding the Times to say that "Concerns that the FMD outbreak was caused by live virus escaping into the environment via the Pirbright research facility’s drainage system were effectively ruled out last night".

2.Dr Andrew King, a former head of molecular biology at the IAH, has been drafted in to help.He told The Times: “As far as I am concerned the authorities have failed to find any chink in the armoury of the establishment’s bio-security. What you are left with is human movement, which is not a matter for the institute, it’s a police matter. It’s very, very unlikely that it could be spread by accident. People do not spread the disease easily.”

Dr King said he thought it likely that Merial would also be given a clean bill of health. “That establishment is inspected by Defra every six months. Defra grants the licence. Defra says it’s OK,” he said.

He also added that the longest period after which the virus had ever been recovered from the human body after heavy exposure was 48 hours, and that involved a full body search. To pass the virus from human to cow “you would have to hug a cow and breathe down its nose”, he said. Which is an alarming picture but we recently saw that is what Hindus do with cows who have TB.

The Times AKA Ben McIntyre, also tells us today the Government spends just £180,000 on bee research, a figure that has shrunk continuously over recent years. (Almost as fast as the bee population).

Bees are dying across the world at a terrifying rate. The apian epidemic started in the United States, where entire populations of honey bees have simply vanished in the phenomenon known as colony collapse disorder (CCD). At least a quarter of America’s 2.5 million honeybee colonies have been wiped out already .

If you really don't want to sleep at night Google "Bluetongue" and read how this bovine viral disease is spread by flies (midges) of the Culicoides genus. The South African vector is C.imicola which appears / seems to have spread northwards, carried on winds or as a response (?) to global warming.

In the US, " “bluetongue is a major obstacle to exportation of U.S. ruminants and ruminant products and probably affects the United States more than most countries.”

The good news is that IAH are on the caseand working hard at it .... In August 2006, Dutch authorities reported the first ever case of bluetongue in Northern Europe. Since an initial report on June 14th in North Rhine Westphalia, clinical and subclinical cases have been reported from sheep and cattle in Germany, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands over 2,000 herds so far have been infected.

IAH Pirbright is an International Reference Laboratory for bluetongue, and provides diagnostic services to the European Community (EC), the World Animal Health Organisation (OIE), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The Institute is working closely with several authorities, including the European Food Safety Authority, on the current outbreak.

Which shows how essential it is the Institute is properly funded, staffed and equipped and supported.

Two Tupolev-95 bombersflew from Blagoveshchensk, on Russia's border with China, to the US naval base at Guam in the West Pacific and buzzed a military base during a 13-hour round trip on Wednesday.

Equity marketssaw frantic trading scenes throughout the day, as traders grew increasingly fearful that the decline in the availability of debt may lead to a slowdown in the global economy.On Wall Street, the sell-off saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average tumble 387.2 to 13270.7.

The picture was similar in Europe, where the CAC 40 in Paris retreated 2.17pc and the German DAX shedded 2pc and in London the FTSE 100 index fell 1.92pc,

For those who seek the eternal Truth through Jaweh Shayler here is a picture in Lord Patel's collection taken in April 2005 in a Blackburn caff when it is believed he saw the light and failed to pay for his round of coffees..."The Lord will provide he said".

He was right, Lord Patel paid up.

The book he held was Shayler's First Book of Revelations in which he revealed very little, other than the astonishingnews that HMG wanted our new friend and football fan Generalissimo Gadaffi dead ... which as President Reagan provided with airspace and not a little encouragement by Mrs Thatcher had actually tried with a massive force of UK based F 16's was hardly news.

Remember .. Jaweh Shayler can CHANGE THE WEATHER ... so that H.A.A.R.P thingy in Alaska is evidently redundant and he will therefore save the US Gubment considerable billions and maybe part of the Alaskan wilderness. See hereand here and even the TESSid Boil, our man on the Spot says a few Bob on Middelsboro' fer't Cup might be where the smart money is going..nudge, nudge, wink wank.UPDATE -Apparently la Machon has forsaken the Messiah and he is currently living on Dartmoor and taken up an natural and organic diet of wild mushrooms ... so if you fancy a party girls ...

This is not a confirmed outbreak as testing is required but the animals show clinical symptoms as did some of the 327 animals culled today on the third farm near Pirbright, which included sheep and goats.

Leaving yet again the increasing impression that DEFRA is moving after one week into the chaos theory of crisis management, as the decision makers are harassed by the grasping NFU and their lawyers... there goes the export trade.

PS 2 freelance journalists , the new agricultural paparazzi - Philip Hollis from Kingston and James Purkiss from Swindon - were charged today under Section 27 of the Animal Health Act and are facing prosecution by Surrey Trading Standards.

They were arrested, disinfected and their equipment was seized on Saturday 4 August, after breaching a cordon inside the protected foot and mouth zone close to Wanborough.

Thursday, August 09, 2007

It is evident that Meriel briefed the press about the HPA concerns over Legionnaire's disease at HAI Room ISO10 - first surfacing with the Guradian... evidently wanting to take the heat off any liabilities - and consequent costs and compensation claims from the NFU, whose lawyers are already girding their loins to slap on someone "real soon now".

Now BBC2 Newsnight,tonight, quote DEFRA's own guidelines about not siting buildings holding Class 3/4 biohazards, where there is any danger of flooding (Flooding is when "water overflows it's natural confines"). IAH has part of the site (on which Meriel sits) adjacent to the stream that flows down to the site from the farm where the first cases erupted on July 29th which appears as a flood risk on the Environment Agency's Flood Map.

Curiously young Mr Hilary Benn has dropped public references to his pie in the sky £120 Mn super dooper IAH site , due ..er .. 2011 ..er 2012 - hardly an ideal site if it appears on the Environment Agency's Flood Map... more astute planning Gubment Planning at work ?

Not a peep publicly from DEFRA's Chief Scientist Dr Dalton or Geoff RookerLord Rooker who have jointly been so effective in cutting funding, resources, and staff at IAH over the last decade .. not to mention la Beckett.

Oddly the Hadley centre of the Meteorological Office - funds up 40% and a spanking brand new centre in Exeter crammed with Cray computers - failed to forecast the floods for Surrey - but will happily tell you the Earth's temperature in ten years time.

"Your Report (IPCC 1st report) confirms that greenhouse gases are increasing substantially as a result of Man's activities; that this will warm the Earth's surface, with serious consequences for us all, and that these consequences are capable of prediction. We want to predict them more accurately and that is why we are opening this Centre today."

"But the changes which we are talking about now will occur at a faster rate than anything our natural world has known in the past."

"We must also take action on carbon dioxide emission and that will mean significant adjustments to our economies: more efficient power stations, cars which use less fuel, better-insulated houses and better management of energy in general."

It will surpise many how forward thinking she was.."As the Panel's Report itself makes clear, we should have a better understanding of many of these things in ten or fifteen years time, say, by about the year 2005. " she was by education a scientist .. and quite evidently took a long view .. something lost on the Lord Rooker's of the Westminster world.

“The Hadley Centre has the highest concentration of absolutely outstanding people who do absolutely outstanding work, spanning the breadth of modelling, attribution, and data analysis, of anywhere in the world.”

Thanks to Mrs T pic of her opening the Hadley centre in 1990 - meanwhile a well established International resource like Pirbright has been allowed to fall apart and could soon lose it's status as a World centre for agricultural research by the intellectual pygmies at DEFRA and it's ignorant Minister.

1. To give a sense of scale..the land mass of the US of A = 3% of the Earth's surface.

2. To give a sense of scale CO2 in the atmosphere is said (where

Imagine a line drawn on the sand 1 KIlometre long = 1 million millimetres. So that means we move the peg from about 34 cms to 309 cms. (NB these measurements never provide for experimental error + or - let us say, 5 /10 /20% - my blood sugar tester is accurate says the manufacturers to +/- 20%.

Now to add to this there is the astounding revelation (for it is nothing less) on Channel 4 More4 Newstonight (see pic) that David Shayler Jewish (ex?) MI5 double agent has been having a chat it appears with Mary Magdaleine, and (Shayler - Jaweh - Messiah word shift) is THE NEW MESSIAH ! ***

Besides predicting that Middlesboro' will win their Division and move up next year .... HE CAN CHANGE THE WEATHER.

Right! OK! Got all that on board ? - The Met Office Hadley Centre (UK's official centre for climate change research. Partly funded by DEFRA - who also partly fund the IAH) have decided what the weather will be like in 10 years time.

Or rather they have issued a Press release about a paper that will be published in Science on August 10th - this will be the first decadal climate prediction model ever (and folks you can be sure it won't be the last) and includes a prediction for annual global temperatures to 2014.

Over the 10-year period as a whole, the climate continues to warm and 2014 is likely to be 0.3 Degrees C warmer than 2004. At least half of the years after 2009 are predicted to exceed the warmest year currently on record - Frame of reference - Total global warming on a decadal average is 0.8 Degrees C since 1900 (IPCC 2007) ****

The new model ( well the updated and fucked about previous model) incorporates (we think) the effects of sea surface temperatures as well as other factors such as man-made emissions of greenhouse gases (naturally) , projected changes in the sun's output (there is a novelty) and the effects of previous volcanic eruptions - the first time internal and external variability have both been predicted. (i.e more variables built in to "adjust" if it proves none too accurate)

Team leader, Dr Doug Smith (do not confuse with David Shayler) said: "Occurrences of El Nino, for example, have a significant effect on shorter-term predictions. By including such internal variability, we have shown a substantial improvement in predictions of surface temperature." Dr Smith continues: "Observed relative cooling in the Southern Ocean and tropical Pacific over the last couple of years was correctly predicted by the new system, giving us greater confidence in the model's performance". (El Nino was observed historically by fishermen and named by them. "Observations of conditions in the tropical Pacific are considered essential for the prediction of short term (a few months to 1 year) climate variations." see NOAA website for full clear history and operation over decades of El Nino)

Now that's really good news for swimming pool owners, manufacturers of ice creams, sun creams, swimwear, swim pools, air conditioning ... but nowehere do they mention the effect of David Shayler THE NEW MESSIAH !

One thing is evident though, the money DEFRA have saved on labs, equipment, staff, at the IAH research centres brand spanking new Hadley centre in Exeter bursting with Cray computers and scientists with planet sized egos. "Our funding to the Hadley Centre incidentally has increased by 40% over five years" Prof Dalton Chief scientist DEFRA Nov 2006 to Select Committee on Science and Technology Hansard Q220

*** Er.. well maybe not ,Hugo Rifkind in the Times had to apologise for saying he was the Messiah and David pointed out that he was actually ..er.."I was, though, crucified with a crown of thorns and nails when incarnated as Astronges, a Jewish revolutionary put to death by the Romans at around the end of the last century BC . . . "

To get the record straight David revealed this at the Glastonbury Symposium, a lecture on Investigating Crop Circles and Signs of our Times lecture at Glastonbury Town Hall and not just on Channel 4.

**** How you arrive at a global temperature for say 1921 (or 1948) is a peer reviewed consensus secret of the alumni of the Climatologists. You'd better believe it if you want a research Grant. You get my meaning ?

Backtracking, the IAH calculate that the period 17th - 23rd July was the most likely period of infection derived from SOURCE tracing.

In this period - on the 20th July, "Drains from Mains sewer opened and flooded field "The first clinical signs were observed on 29th July. (water based effluents leave the site in two ways one heat treated and one chemically treated, by different routes - it appears that all effluent is the final responsibility of IAH)

The report concludes "This is an evolving situation and is subject to an on-going review"

At the warmwell sitethey have identified that the ISO10 building at Pirbright, where the person with Legionnaires disease had been working, had been built the previous year to replace SAPO-4/ACDP-2 containment level accommodation - "for work on exotic viral diseases and vaccine development." This information was obtained from the IAH Annual report 2004

As Mary at Warmwell raised yesterday - There's more at stake than paying compensation to farmers if Pirbright is found to be responsible for the leak - and comments on gossip / news reports in Switzerland whether Pirbright will be able to remain a reference laboratory of the European Union for all FMD work, bluetongue illness and vesicular illnesses, has not yet been discussed. This year the British laboratory has received some 750,000 Euros towards its work."

Amazingly there has not been a peep about bio-terrorism in all the Press /TV reports - but the whole history of IAH funding shows the critical importance of having adequate, facilities, equipment, trained staff - which it is evident are lacking.

We repeat.

See also :Memorandum from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to Select Committee on Science and TechnologyNovember 2006

BBSRC—FUNDED RESEARCH OF RELEVANCE TO COMBATING TERRORISM4.

Although most infectious diseases of agricultural plants and livestock rarely pose a direct threat to people (with some notable exceptions—eg anthrax, TB) they do provide an opportunity for "economic terrorism" by groups intent on the deliberate introduction and dissemination of disease agents in the environment.etc., etc.,

Today the BBC report a case of Legionnaires' disease linked to the Pirbright laboratory site in Surrey is being investigated by Health Protection Agency (HPA) officials.

The Health Protection Agency confirmed that the probe related to the Institute of Animal Health.

So far it appears that the Legionnaires' case pre-dates the outbreak of foot and mouth.A statement from the HPA (not available at time of writing on HPA website) said its early findings indicated that an individual linked with Legionnaires' had been working at the ISO10 building on the Pirbright site.

"These findings, backed up by temperature monitoring in the same area, suggested that the Institute was carrying out all necessary maintenance and monitoring work in compliance with the Approved Code of Practice for the control of Legionella. Results of tests carried out on further samples are still being awaited" it continued.

Investigators were examining where the patient had visited in the 10-14 days prior to falling ill, including their home, workplace and anywhere else they may have travelled to.

Meanwhile let's hope they have sorted out the HSE complaint from february earlier this year :

The Good News - The Archers keep up to date One of the Archers and his wife - the soppy Geordy who nearly had it away in the cowshed with the hired staff, lamented in today's episode about the plight of the Surrey farmer's and the lab staff. Listen again tonight. 7.0pm BBC2 as the drama unfolds.

Listening fans were dismayed that during the performances of "Daughter" the sung lines "George Bush, leave this world alone" and "George Bush find yourself another home." were absent. (This is sung to Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall") ... try it.

AT & T agreed there was a cut and the unbelievably named, large breasted, luscious lipped Tiffany Nels of AT&T said they are working the matter out with the band. "We regret the mistake," she explains. "This was not intended and was an unfortunate mistake made by a webcast editor." She went on to explain that AT&T has a policy for any excessive language, and that it was set up because of its all-ages audience... explained further to the Chicago Tribune;

"We don't have a policy in place to censor," said AT&T's Tiffany Nels. "We have a policy on excessive profanity. This was an honest mistake. There was no censorship intended."

"This, of course, troubles us as artists but also as citizens concerned with the issue of censorship and the increasingly consolidated control of the media,"

"AT&T's actions strike at the heart of the public's concerns over thepower that corporations have when it comes to determining what the public sees and hears through communications media."

The band went on to point out hat "most telecommunications companies oppose 'net neutrality' and argue that the public can trust them not to censor."

"If a company that is controlling a Webcast is cutting out bits of our performance -- not based on laws, but on their own preferences and interpretations -- fans have little choice but to watch the censored version," the band said. "What happened to us this weekend was a wake-up call, and it's about something much bigger than the censorship of a rock band."

The full version of Pearl Jam's performance of "Daughter" at Lollapalooza will shortly be available on their website. Nels also told the Chicago Tribune that AT&T hopes also to post an unedited version on its Blue Room site archives - "hopes to".

So AT & T are not only content with listening in to your telcoms, reading your e-mail and texts, watching your web browsing for Uncle Sam ... they want to decide what you can fucking hear.

However those with a long memory will remember that it was luscious Tiffany who fronted the responses by AT & T to their changed "privacy" policy in June last year when they "overhauled" their policy which involved dropping any reference to its previous policy, which had said the company "does not access, read, upload or store data contained in or derived from private files without the members' authorization..."

Luscious Tiffany went on to explain at the time .."Asked about the missing reference, she then said that it been removed in order to clarify the policy and make it easier for customers to understand and explained the company had been working on the privacy policy update for several months.

"We have never looked at our customers' files, or e-mails, photos or personal information, so this is not an issue. This is simply a matter of streamlining information," Nels said.

AT&T released a statement saying its merger last year with SBC "and the need to integrate the pre-merger companies' two separate privacy policies" led it to update the policy.

It added,

"As spelled out in any privacy policy, we outline our obligation to assist law enforcement and other government agencies responsible for protecting the public welfare, whether it be an individual or the security interests of the entire nation. "

"We prize the trust our customers place in us. If and when AT&T is asked by government agencies for help, we do so strictly within the law and under the most stringent conditions."

For those without such a long memory we should remind you that the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a lawsuit in January against AT&T, accusing the company of violating the law and the privacy of its customers "by collaborating with the National Security Agency in its illegal program to wiretap Americans' communications." Accusations of collaboration resurfaced in USA Today storylast month stating that AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth provided domestic phone records to the NSA.

An AT&T spokesman (evidently not the gorgeous Tiffany) said at the time the company has never said whether it participated in any such program. Verizon (go here for more) and BellSouth denied providing the phone call records to the agency shortly after the USA Today story was published when they were added to the EFF lawsuit. (Note - Phone call records is what they deny , not access to their routes and facility to wiretap)

Opposition to which is now pointless as Congress have just allowed George to do anything he fucking wants. See Lord Patel July 30th "Having breached FISA the Decider now wants to change the law to suit the spooks - I heard it on the Radio"

Gunslingers in Surrey after culling cattle. A pic from This is London.

Now these grim faced technicians are wearing protective clothing and walking away across fields ... without changing them.

The article "Could foot and mouth have been spread through chemical drums used as vegetable planters? " available at the warmwell sitealso discusses the potential role of Dr Fawthrop, 47, lives in the Surrey village of Normandy with his wife Joanne and his allotment and use of chemical drums as planters sourced from the Pirbright site. Dr Fawthrop is second in command at the Merial site and is regarded as an expert on FMV.

This is a picture of his house with some of the drums outside.

Here is a list of recent HSE breaches at IAH sites

May 23, 2004: Failed to protect staff at Compton from airborne particles that can trigger asthma.Dec 12, 2006: Failed to protect staff and visitors from "substances hazardous to health" - including the Legionnaires' Disease bacteria at Compton. Ordered to improve safety standardsFeb 1, 2007: Had a faulty biosecurity system. Ordered to immediately halt experiments at Compton involving TBinfected cattle.Feb 6, 2007: Warned after an "unauthorised" pesticide, Hycolin, was discovered being used at Compton.Feb 28, 2007: Failed to protect staff from exposure to potentially deadly asbestos dust at Pirbright.

See also :Memorandum from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council to Select Committee on Science and Technology November 2006

BBSRC—FUNDED RESEARCH OF RELEVANCE TO COMBATING TERRORISM

4. Although most infectious diseases of agricultural plants and livestock rarely pose a direct threat to people (with some notable exceptions—eg anthrax, TB) they do provide an opportunity for "economic terrorism" by groups intent on the deliberate introduction and dissemination of disease agents in the environment.etc., etc.,

It is unclear whether the helicopter which crashed at about 9.30 kiling 2 and injuring 10 was operated by the Army or Royal Air Force. Another reminder if needed of the diminishing stocks of armed forces lifting capacity for both training and in the battlefield.

UPDATE 9/8/07 1300. (MOD)We now know that there were three RAF personnel and 9 Army, 2 deaths and 10 injured and that it was a twin engined Puma. (The oldest helicopter in service with RAF, delivery started in 1971, it replaced the Wessex and is due to phased out in 2010). It can carry 16 fully equipped soldiers.

33 Squadron operate 15 x Puma HC1 out of RAF Benson where this flight originated and 230 Squadron have operated 18 x Puma HC1 RAF Aldergrove in Northern Ireland which have probably been re-positioned. In January 2003 an RAF benson helicopter crashed near Abingdon with no loss of life. (BBC)

A crash inquiry has been started into the crash at Catterick.

In April this year 2 RAF Puma's crashed at Taji north of Baghdad killing 1 SAS covert operative and 1 aircrew whilst on operational patrol. No further news has been provided since.

The Board of Inquiryinto the loss of the Hercules C-130K XV206 on landing at Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan on the 24th of May last year has just been published but heavily censored.

The Board concluded that XV206 crashed after detonating a buried Soviet style AT blast mine when landing.

It must be rare for a complete aircraft the size of a Hercules to be destroyed by a land mine.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

from which came 15 of the 19 men responsible for 9/11? (Many of them still alive ! )

that opposed the March 2003 U.S.- led invasion of Iraq and whose king, in March 2007, called the invasion an “illegal occupation”?

that told the United States to remove its troops and find some other country for U.S. Central Command’s (CENTCOM) forward command post?

whose border is so poorly monitored that 75% of all foreign fighters crossing into Iraq do so from Saudi territory, far more than from Syria?

whose autocratic government either will not or cannot prevent its youth from going to Iraq – an estimated 40% of all foreigners fighting U.S. troops and Iraqi government forces are Saudi nationals – where they become bomb makers, snipers, and suicide bombers?

that nearly 60 years after the creation of the modern state of Israel still refuses to extend diplomatic recognition to Tel Aviv?

The US Saudi Ambassador received US$1 Bn kickback for the Al Yamamah deal negotiated by Mrs Thatcher from British Aerospace ?

That locked up, tortured, faslely accused and found guilty UK businessmen who they blamed for bombing whose worst crime was selling alcohol ?

Who routinely behead criminals in public ? ( We won't even begin to list all the Human Rights abuses )

Fund Hamas who fight US funded and supported Fatah

Of course if you are militarily over committed there are 2 cards to play: pump up fear of Iran acquiring enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear weapon, or bribe the regional "allies"... or do both. .. toal bill for Saudi, Israel, Egypt is US$63 Bn....so far... and Israel will live with arming Saudi and Congress will do nothing .. but some members will say a lot.

Gordy who has no influence at the WH (and never will) will keep quiet.

The Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa, (AGRA) was established last year with an initial US$150 million joint grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.

It's declared aim (See R.Foundation White Paper) is to help millions of small-scale farmers and their families across Africa. In the grand terms used on these occasions it seeks to help these farmers lift themselves and their families out of poverty and hunger through sustainable increases in farm productivity and incomes. They seek nothing less than a new "Green Revolution" in Africa.

Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, ( Eden Square, Wrstlands 00800 Nairobi there will also be an office in Accra) it will work throughout Africa on a wide range of interventions across the agricultural “value chain,” ranging from strengthening local and regional agricultural markets, to helping improve irrigation, soil health and training for farmers, to supporting the development of new seed systems better equipped to cope with the harsh African climate.

At a World Economic Forum on 14th June 2007 AGRA announcedthat Kofi Annan had been appointed AGRA's first Chairman.

The Press release says that Kofi is ," keenly aware that most of Africa’s poor, particularly its poor women, depend on farming for food and income, in 2004 Annan called for a “new uniquely African Green Revolution—a revolution that is long overdue, a revolution that will help the continent in its quest for dignity and peace.”

The Alliance is a response to recent calls by African leaders to chart a new path for prosperity by spurring the continent’s agricultural development and also seeks to help reverse decades of relative neglect in funding for agricultural development for Africa.

It strongly endorses the vision laid out in the African Union’s Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which seeks a 6 % annual growth in food production by 2015.

Dr. Monty Jones, head of FARA, a leading African agricultural research organization and a board member of AGRA, said he welcomed the appointment. “With Kofi Annan as our new chairman the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa will be much better placed to build broader political and economic support behind our vision of pro-poor, pro-environment partnerships needed to revitalize agriculture for Africa’s small-scale farmers, and replace wide-spread poverty with prosperity,” he said.

Many of course see this as a method fpr US based GM technology to be inserted into Africa after the failures in Europe - Kofi's first outing in Nairobi on Augus 1st did nothing to help. (see "What Exactly Did Kofi Annan Say in Nairobi?)

At a Press conference, he started by saying, "AGRA is not using GMOs." He also said, "...let me assure you that we [AGRA] are not engaging in genetically modified food." It is only later that he clarifies, "But for the moment, we are only sticking to traditional methods."

AGRA's original Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ) they said, "Introduction of genetically engineered crops is not part of the Alliance strategy."

Later in their "Statement on Plant Breeding and Genetic Engineering," they noted, "The Alliance is not at this time funding the development of new varieties through the use of genetic engineering." See also here

At the press conference, Kofi, speaking for AGRA said, "If you take the Green Revolution in India, science played a role, but the government, the then government, deserves a great deal of the credit by putting in infrastructure, coming in with the right agricultural policies, and this is what I'm expecting the African governments to do, and I will be working with them in this direction."

Watch this Green space.... and feel free to believe that KA is a well paid stalking horse for insinuating GM foods into the African agricultural economy which, "which seeks a 6 % annual growth in food production by 2015. "

We assume the Daily Mailknow the identity and place of work of the employee whom they say carried the FMV from work to their allotment adjacent to a field where Roger Pride's cows were kept. (see note below - @5pm "As at the time of this release, the Defra investigators have advised that they have no evidence linking this member of staff to the outbreak."

Don't get too excited dear ! .... this was their map on Sunday showing the wind blowing 100% the wrong way on the days that transmission is said to have occurred according to the HSE and the Meteorological Office who are good on History but none too good on forecasting what will happen next week ... massively good 25 years ahead however. (It's going to be warmer .er .. somewhere)

The Guradian todaysay..."Defra said last night it would investigate unconfirmed reports that a worker at one of the Pirbright labs has an allotment near the farm where the outbreak was first detected on Friday."

They also quote microbiology expert Hugh Penningtonsaying: "My impression is that they haven't found any technical fault and flooding is a potential, but only negligible. What you are left with is human movement." he appeared on BBC Newsnight saying much the same thing.

"We wish to clarify that Merial does not release water from the shared Pirbright site. We ensure that the water we use in our virus production is treated, we then transfer it to the IAH who treat it further and release it. "

The Guradian Bloghas this at 3.30 pm. Merial has issued the following: "A Merial member of staff accompanied Defra investigators to an allotment yesterday as part of the ongoing investigations into foot and mouth disease in Surrey. As at the time of this release, the Defra investigators have advised that they have no evidence linking this member of staff to the outbreak." (@ 5.pm this was NOT on the Merial website.)

The Mary Warmwellsite is also an excellent source of information regularly updated during the day with a lot of comments from the farming / country community. her latest update ..

5.pm "Debby Reynolds CVO (with the NFU's Kevin Pearce there too ) has just given a press conference. Eased movements for everywhere outside the two zones. More bad news Slaughter on suspicion , a phrase we'd hoped never to hear again, is about to take place on "an adjacent farm" -third so far. The CVO would not tell reporters any more and could not give any details of the animals that will now die. She referred people to the DEFRA FMV website. for more details of eased restrictions"

Tuesday, August 07, 2007

It was revealed in February that The Institute for Animal Health in Compton, Berkshire(employing 220 staff ) was forced by the HSE to shut down its high security unit over problems over possible contamination of staff with bovine tuberculosis.

IAH Compton had to cull 15 disease-ridden cattle and lock down the unit after the inspectors discovered a security breach in a laboratory used to carry out tests on TB infected cows.Pressure failure inside the high security compound sparked fears that up to 20 staff may have breathed in the disease-contaminated air. (Lord Patel mentioned this earlier today "IAH Pirbright,Compton - underfunded, underesourced,overstretched, run down."

At the time, HSE inspectors told newburytoday.co.uk: "During the routine inspection, work practices were observed which were deemed to pose a serious risk to human health."This led to fears that the bovine TB, an airborne disease that can spread to humans via infected milk and meat, could have escaped from the laboratory into neighbouring corridors where protective clothing and gas masks are not worn by staff.

The experiments carried out in the high security lab before it was closed on February 2 involved infecting cattle with bovine TB to test whether the inoculation used to pre-vent the disease in humans could also be used as a preventative measure in cattle.

The high security unit carries out research into category three type pathogens, defined by the Government as "biological agents that can cause severe human disease and present a serious hazard to employees."

The HSE had issued a warning previously in November about a possible outbreak of legionnaires disease before this february closure.

The same HSE inspector who served the prohibition notice on Compton in February is now conducting investigations into IAH’s Pirbright centre in Surrey, which is at the centre of the latest FMVD outbreak.

In 2001, scientists at IAH were universally ridiculed in a mix up of samples that almost resulted in a nationwide cull of sheep after it was discovered that they were studying cow brains in-stead of sheep brains.

A spokesman for the Institute of Animal Health, where the research was carried out, stated at the time : "Once it's a paste, a cow brain looks very like a sheep brain. That's no excuse - the samples should have been properly labelled - but you can't tell them apart just from their appearance".

Rural Affairs minister Margaret Beckett had been accused of burying the news because of the way it was released. (BBC) (IT's to be hoped that someone could distin guish her brain from a sheep's, but it is doubtful)

A report carried out by the United Kingdom Accreditation Service, found there was "no formal documented quality system" covering the work (cost £217,000 and 5 years) at the IAH and that record keeping was "inadequate".

The report by independent risk assessors Risk Solutions stated: "Poor labelling of the samples combined with poor control of storage provided opportunity for substitution to occur." See New Scientist23/10/01

The Director of IAH Bostock left shortly after this cockup. Four years later, IAH Compton axed 40 jobs, blaming years of underfunding.

Just ponder on that ....

"Poor labelling of the samples combined with poor control of storage provided opportunity for substitution to occur." "biological agents (Type 3) that can cause severe human disease and present a serious hazard to employees." (not to mention the public)

..and this is the "sister" institute of IAH.

If you linked from the M Weaver Guradian blog you might also want to visit

Gypsy Petulengro has been at work again and Lord Patel repeats what he previously posted concerning the FMV outbreaks (2 so far) in Surrey.

Those with a long memory might look back at the IAH 201 Annual reportPage 25 -" the source of the current FMD outbreak in the UK has still to be determined. (still the case today 7/8/07)

Further analysis of the UK virus showed that it was closely related to the O1 Manisa strain held as concentrated inactivated viral antigen in the International Vaccine Bank and that this strain could be used to vaccinate animals, if required. This antigen was formulated into 500,000 doses of vaccine and held ready for use.

It is said that the FMV strain isolated by IAH scientists from the first outbreakhave now identified (5/7/07 )the virus strain as very close to 01/BFS (67), a strain isolated originally in 1967 and propagated as a Reference Laboratory strain used for research and commercial vaccine production. It has not circulated in Europe for 40 years.

The DEFRA website hasUpdate 4th August "The present indications are that this strain is a 01 BFS67 – like virus, isolated in the 1967 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in Great Britain."

Lord Patel has been researching the decline in funding, the continuing cuts in funding and staff cuts of the IAH who hold this world resource of Virus samples .... and hinted at the possibility of aggrieved ex or current staff.

What pray are the epidemiologists views that a second FMV outbreak occurs of the identical strain that has been stored at IAH since the 1st outbreak in 1967 and has not circulated in Europe for 40 years. Accident? Design ? Or simply malign ?

What pray are the epidemiologists views that the 2001 FMV outbreak occurs of the identical / very similiar strain that was stored at IAH. Accident? Design ? Or simply malign ?

UPDATE 7/8/07 The Health and Safety (HSE ) report "Initial report on potential breaches to biosecurity at the Pirbright site, 2007" is now available and can be read here.

They report (inter alia)

"We have initiated further studies intended to provide additional molecular information on the virus types in use at both organisations. This requires detailed technical analysis and the results are not available for inclusion in this report but are expected within a week. " ( ie as Lord Patel predicted , the results would be "ambiguous" and another pound to a pinch of snuff will coninue to be so)

Potential for release from the site by human movements There are various potential routes for accidental or deliberate transfer of material from the site. We have investigated site management systems and records and spoken to a number of employees. As a result we are pursuing lines of inquiry.

Release by human movement must also be considered a real possibility. Further investigation of the above issues is required and is being urgently pursued.

It is worth noting that a list of all IAH scientific employees and their related activities down to the level of individual projects, was on the new website which is/was being developed ( http://www.iah.ac.uk/ )which now directs you to the old website. The new site was there on Saturday. Google has a cache of the new website as retrieved on 31 Jul 2007 20:41:50 GMT. but if you try the links you get ;

Server Application UnavailableThe web application you are attempting to access on this web server is currently unavailable. Please hit the "Refresh" button in your web browser to retry your request.Administrator Note: An error message detailing the cause of this specific request failure can be found in the system event log of the web server. Please review this log entry to discover what caused this error to occur.

Curious. Try looking at the Google cache. of the new website ... it's still there.

"Becta leads the national drive to improve learning through technology. We do this by working with industry to ensure we have the right technology for education in place. We also support the education sector to make the best use of technology so that every learner in the UK is able to benefit from its advantages and achieves the best they can." Becta website The chairman of Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) is Andrew Pindar CBE Between October 2000 and August 2004, Andrew was the UK's E-Envoy (WTF ?) , responsible directly to the Prime Minister for co-ordinating the development of the knowledge economy in the UK. During that period, (says the Becta website) " the UK moved to the top of world league tables for the use of digital technology," which is evidently bollocks as we survey the wreckage of publicly funded, outsourced IT systems for Government departments and agencies.

Another member is Stephen Gill, accountant, ex PriceWaterhouse Coopers who is CEO of Hewlett Packard UK.

Not gents who have any reluctance to extend the use of technology to monitor, all from womb to tomb, and indeed have a commercial interest to do so.

Becta have issued today a ten page document"Guidance on biometric technologies in schools" which they have developed with "support" from the Department for Children SChools and Families (DCSF) in "consultation" with the Information Commissioners Office (ICO).

It is claimed this advice is primarily aimed at headteachers, governing bodies and anyone else who may be involved in the process of introducing biometric technology into schools.

The docuent providesthem with what Becta feel they need to know about biometric technology systems if they are thinking of introducing such a system in their school, and to advise them on what steps they need to take to introduce it successfully.

Adding as a paraphrasis and afterthought ... "Parents and carers may also wish to read the guidance, and the ICO’s view, to help them understand what biometric technology is, what it can be used for, and what their rights are under relevant legislation. "

There is a brief review of fingerprint recognition currently in use for "cashless catering" , "automated attendance and registration", "school library automation"

All schools must handle data about pupils under the terms of Data Protection Act 1998 and the Governing body of a maintained school (as distinct from a non-maintained) incorporated under section 19(1) of the Education Act 2002 has a power under paragraph 3(1) of Schedule 1 of that Act to

“do anything which appears to them to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of, or in conjunction with (a) the conduct of the school, or (b) the provision of facilities or services under section 27 [of that Act.]”

This general enabling power clearly covers such matters as the introduction of biometric technology systems for purposes such as improving the administrative efficiency of the school.

There is nothing explicit in the Data Protection Act to require schools to seek the consent of parents before implementing a biometric technology system. (it was n ot of course when the Act was passed) The Data Protection Act 1998 provides that personal data shall not be processed unless one of the conditions of processing detailed in Schedule 2 of the Act [http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/80029--n.htm#sch2] is met. Consent is one of these, but it is not required if any of the other conditions applies.

Regarding the age of a child, pupils are the data subjects of the personal data which is being collected and it is they who should in the first instance be informed about the use of their personal data. The Data Protection Act 1998 does not specify when a person is (or may be considered to be) too young to give consent. It is a matter of judgement that must be made on a case by case basis by the school as the data controller. Only where a pupil is judged to be unable to understand what is involved will his or her rights be exercisable by the parent or someone with parental responsibility for the pupil.

Whilst consent is not required for all processing of personal data, schools should normally involve pupils and parents in their decisions to use biometric technologies as is the case with other decisions made during the school life of children.

The ICO has also set out its view (23/7/07) on the use of biometric technology systems in schools. Its paper ‘The use of biometrics in schools’ can be accessed here and the ICO Press release here.

They conclude .." that in view of the sensitivity of taking children’s fingerprints, schools should respect the wishes of parents and pupils who object to their (or their children’s) fingerprints being taken in school. "

So if you don't want your child, grandchild or anyone elses's child fingerprinted you can, " ask the school to respect the wishes of parents and pupils" ... or tell them to fuck off.

Patientline, the Slough based, monopolistic racketeers and hospital phone and television providers, announced on 26th June 2007 that Y/E March 31st 2007 they had racked up losses of £30 Mn, narrowly beating last years loss of £23.8 Mn., onn revenues down from £47.8 Mn to £43 Mn. The shares @ 1.75p show a market capitalisation of £1.28Mn.(Feb 13, 2004 = 162.00p )

With total Debt standing at £77Mn Patientline is negotiating a hefty debt-for - equity swap with it's bankers (Barclays ?) to reduce its debt levels.Making a virtue out of necessity today, commercial director Charlotte Brown announces the cost of calls to and from hospitals by/to patients would return to the Tariff operated until April. Calls from bedside consoles (which never get cleaned) will fall from 26p to 10p a minute. The minimum call charge will be cut from 40p to 10p.

However, the cost of calling a patient in hospital remains at 49p a minute during peak periods and 39p a minute between 6pm and 8am and at weekends. An unskippable recorded message, necessarily lengthens and increases these already exorbitant charges.

In April, the company cut the cost of watching beside television from £3.50 a day to £2.90 a day. The new price also included internet, email and games, which were previously charged separately.

Charlotte Brown has the gall to call this the 2nd price reduction this year ! She is quoted saying today, "'The price cut is testament to our dedication to making people's stay in hospital easier, by offering customers some of the entertainment and communication choices they would enjoy at home,' Ho.Ho.Ho.

Should you, or anyone you know be in hospital there is absoluteley nothing the hospital can do to prevent you using your own mobile - The energy level of it's signal represents no threat to any hospital equipment - unlike the spanking brand new emergency services Tetra network. The Government Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), responsible for medical safety, states that there are no technical reasons why mobile phones should be banned outright from hospitals, only in critical care areas. The vast majority of ward beds do not fall into this category. See their web page for details "Mobile communications interference"

Some hospitals maintain a ban - The only reason to maintain a blanket ban on wards is to protect the monopoly for Patientline and similar companies. Simply tell them to fuck off or call a policeman.

Those with a none too long a memory may recall the company installed Colin Babb as CEO in February 2006 , a man witha colourfal past, he had previously been director of EXY, which was put into administration in February 2005, and of AC+DC Technical Services, which was placed into liquidation in May 2001.

Others may wish to consider what Craig Murray wrote about one of the founders of these 21st century highwaymen on his blog April 27th 2007

"Alan Langlands has questions to answer. After retiring in August 2000 as Chief Executive of the NHS, in March 2001 he quickly reemerged as a Director of Patientline, the disgraced rip-off company which enjoys a monopoly of patient personal communications in the NHS. They charge the ill - who are disproportionately poor and elderly ..... Sir Alan Langlands was a Director of Patientline when I was in Westminster Hospital for two months in Autumn 2003 and unable to talk to Nadira as Patientline phones won't call, or receive from, Uzbekistan. He resigned in 2004."

Sir Alan Langlands is Principal of Dundee University where Craig is currently the student elected rectum as well as a cionsiderable thorn in the flesh of this Government and author of an excellent book "Murder in Samarkand", shortly coming to your local cinema.

You could also benefit from reading about the dishonest sales practices Patientline staff are trained to use, to drum up business with sick and vulnerable people "Your target : Sell to sick people"

There are two other providers of these monopolistic services: Premier charges 10p a minute for outbound calls, and the same as Patientline for incoming calls (so no price fixing there then) . HTS Hospicom is slightly cheaper at 10p a minute to a UK landline, and 30p for incoming calls. Patients pay £3 per day for TV service, although this is free on children's wards.

The extraordinary McCann case takes yet another turn with the Daily Mailreporting ...

"a Portuguese newspaper claimed yesterday that police now believe the little girl may have been killed or died in 'an accident' in the bedroom. "

The Portuguese national daily Jornal de Noticias reported: "This evidence locates Madeleine's death inside the apartment, but the investigators are still not certain it was murder, despite the fact that forensic experts have revealed that somebody did try to erase the blood traces."

The theory most favoured by detectives to explain Maddy's death - now taken as almost certain - is that it involved an accident.

Samples have been sent away for urgent DNA testing and detective (who are said to be based in Leicestershire where the McCann's lived) believe the discovery could "change the direction" of the investigation.

"The investigators are convinced that the blood belongs to Madeleine, but they are still holding back the detailed results of the tests until their suspicions are confirmed."

The BBC TV News at 10 reports that several vehicles are being examined by the police in Portimao including one the McCanns hired several days after Madeleine's disappearance.Police sources say Madeleine's parents, doctors Kate and Gerry McCann, and the nine friends who were on holiday with them would be questioned again.

Curiouser and curiouser.

For all posts re the McCann story on this blog go hereSTOP PRESS - The BBC have just reported 11/8/07 1700 BST that Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa of the Portuguese Police has acknowledged for the first time that missing Madeleine McCann may be dead and that her parents Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends who had been on holiday with them were not being treated as suspects.

They also report that Madeleine's grandparents Brian and Susan Healey manned a stall today (Saturday) in the city centre of Liverpool, where they live, asking for donations.